Tamale machine



Dec. 1, 1942. I

J. A. GAGE El AL I TAMALE' MACHINE Filed Aug. 17, 1940 6 She ets-Sheet l INVENTORS- ATTORNEYS.

Dec. 1, 1942. J. A. GAGE ETAL TAMALE MACHINE I Filed Aug. 1'7, 1940 6 Sheets-Sheet 2 w km v JG'MINVENTORS.

ATTORNEYS.

Dec. 1, 1942. J, GAGE ETAL 2,303,351

TAMALE MACHINE Filed Aug. 17-, 1940 6 Sheets-Sheet 3 fl gl IN VEN TORS.

A TTORNEYS.

17.14. a $.12 fi kgwvm Dec. 1, 1942.

.1. A. GAGE ETAI.

-TAMALE MACHINE Filed Aug. 17, 1940 6 Sheets-Sheet 4 IN VEN TOR.

p. W 6 f fimymmfimy 6 w a a J ATTORNEYS.

Dec. 1, 1942. J. A. GAGE EIY'AL TAMALE MACHINE 6 Sheets-Sheet 5 Filed Aug. 1'7, 1940 I'NVENTORJ.

ATTORNEYS.

J. A. GAGE ETAL TAMALE MACHINE Filed Aug. 17-, 1940 Dec. 1, 1942.

65heets-Sheet 6 J12 %e Juli flkizs'aiz INVENTOR.

A TTORNEYS.

Patented Dec. 1, 1942 r 'if v oFFlcs if ramps-moms Joseph A. Gaggalnd Ben Halve Johnson,

alias, Tex. I Application. August 17, 1940, Serial No. 353,146 (c1. 107-,-1)

3C1aims.

The machine forming the subject matter of this application constitutes an improvement on our former machine shown in Patent No. 1,654,871, issued on January 3, 1928, and referred to therein as a machine for putting up tamalea The present invention aims to provide an improved means for mixing tamale material, shaping the material, wrapping it, advancing the wrapped material, and severing it into'foldable lengths, capable of being pushed in a can or other container.

It is within the province of the disclosure to improve generally and to enhance the utility of devices of that type to which the present invention appertains. Y

With the above and other objects in view, which will appear as the description proceeds.

the invention resides in the combination and, arrangement of parts and in the details of 0011-. struction hereinafter described and claimed, it.

Fig. 2 is a side elevation wherein parts are broken away;

Fig. 3 is a top plan wherein parts are broken away; 7

Fig. 4 is a vertical sectional view showing the hoppers and attendant parts;

Fig. 5 is a vertical sectional view of the valve mechanism;

Fig. 6 is a side elevation of the valve mechanism, parts being broken away, and parts being shown in section;

Fig. '7 is an end view showing a modified valve mechanism;

Fig. 8 is a transverse section of the valve mechanism depicted in Fig. '7:

Fig. 9 is a transverse section of one of thefolders;

Fig. 10 is a side elevation showing a portion of the gearin parts being removed;

Fig. 11 is a transverse section on the line I |--l I of Fig. 10;

Fig. 12 is a section on the line iZ-IZ of Fig. 11. For convenience in describing the relative positions of parts, the portion of the machine marked by the letter A in Fig. 1 will be considered the forward end, the rear end being designated by the letter B. i

- nected to shafts The device forming the subject matter of this.

application is adapted to be used for making and packaging edible compounds of various kinds. In the interest of brevity, it will be called a tamale machine, and the ingredients of a tamale will be referred to as meat andmush.

In Fig. 1 there is shown an overhead support I', which may be the upper floor of a'buildi'ng. On the support I is secured a cooker and mixer 2 for meat, and a mixer for mush, marked by the numeral 3. The mechanisms 2 and 3 include means 4 whereby they may be turned about a horizontal axis, to dump their contents, respectively, into funnel-shaped hoppers 8, detailed in Fig. 4. The hoppers 5 have reduced, depending necks 6.

Below the support I, and generally on a lower floor of the building, is mounted a lower frame I. Figure 2 shows that a vertical supporting and housing tube 8 has its lower end mounted on the frame I. A platform 9 is mounted on the upper end of the tube 8 (Fig. 4), the necks 6 of the hoppers 5 extending downwardly through the platform.

A bearing frame ill is carried by the upper ends of the hoppers B, a vertical driven shaft H being journaled in the frame and in. the platform 9. The shaft H extends downwardly through the housing tube 8, and its lower end is operatively connected with a gear mechanism I2 (Figs. 2 and 1), including a horizontal shaft M to be alluded to hereinafter.

By means of chain and sprocket drives [5, located within the frame ill, the shaft H is conlt, extended downwardly through the hoppers 5 and their necks 6 (Figs. 4 and 2). Universal joints I! are interposed in the shafts l6, where the body portions of the hoppers Ii merge into the necks 6. The shaftsii carry feed worms l8, operating in the hoppers 5 and in the necks 8 thereof.

Parallel, horizontal receivers l8 and 20 (Fig. 3) are disposed above the lower frame 1 (Fig. 1), the receivers beingprovided intermediate their ends with upstanding inlet sleeves 2| (Fig. 5). communicating at their lower ends with the hopper necks 6, and held thereon by any suitable fastening means 22. The receiver I9 gets meat from the mechanism shown at 2, by way of one of the hoppers i, and the receiver 20 gets mush, from the mechanism shown at l, by way of the other hopper i. I

The receiver l9 has any/desired number of side outlets 24, spaced apart horizontally, one of the outlets being seen to best advantage in Fig. 5.

The outlets 24 are prolonged through a housing 28, secured to the receiver l8. Downwardly extended and forwardly prolonged spouts 26 are secured to the housing 25 and form continuations of the outlets 24. There is a gate valve 21 for each outlet 24, the gate valve having sliding movement in a recess 28 (Fig. located in the receiver l9, ahead of the housing 25. A plurality of coaxial shafts 28, located one within the other, are mounted to rotate in the housing 28, the shafts having individual handles 30 or other operating means, external to the casing I 9 and located at one end thereof. Pinions 3| are secured to the shafts 29 (Figs. 5 and 6), and mesh with racks 32 on the gate valves 21.

The mush receiver 20 is a substantial duplicate of the meat receiver ll, the numeral 33 applied to the handles of the mush receiver in Fig. 3 being sufficient to indicate the duplication referred to.v The spouts 34 of the mush receiver 20 extend under the meat receiver i9, as

best shown in Fig. 5. The spouts 26 of the meat receiver i! enter the spouts 14 of the mush receiver 20. and are prolonged longitudinally thereof. The construction is such that there is discharged from the spouts 34, a mingled mass of meat and mush,

Referring to Fig. 3, it will be noted that three trains of tamale material are discharged, but a construction is aflorded whereby a single train of mingled mush and meat may be laid down. Under such circumstances, recourse is had to the structure .shown in Figs. land 8. In those figures, parts hereinbefore described have been designated by numerals already used, with the sufiix a.

The meat receiver l9a has a single outlet 26a and the flow is governed by a single rotary valve 35. The corresponding mush receiver, marked by the numeral 20 in Fig.3, is a duplicate of the receiver Isa, the spout construction 26-" of Fig. 5 being retained.

By a proper manipulation of the gate valves 21 of Fig. 5, a single line of tamale material may be deposited: but if the purchaser does not desire a machine having the capacity of the one shown in Fig. 3, the mechanism appearing in Fig. 6 may be replaced by the mechanism depicted in Figs. 7 and 8. The valve mechanism shown in Figs. 5 and 8 is preferable when a soft material is being handled,'but the valve mechanism shown in Figs, 7 and 8 perhaps is more satisfactory when a harder substance is being handled. I

As the tamale material 39 (Fig. 2) leaves the spouts 34. it is deposited on long strips 30 of wrapper, such as paper, carried by spools 31, mounted for rotation on a hanger 38 (Fig. 1) supported from the platform 9. The strips 38 of wrapper, carrying the ejected tamale material, are moved lengthwise of the machine, by a mechanism to be described hereinafter.

The tamale material 39, having been deposited on the wrapper 38, moves through tapered folders 40 (Fig. 2), mounted on the lower frame I. For convenience in cleaning, and for other purposes, the folders I are composed of laterally separable parts H, as indicated by the numeral 43 in Fig. 9. Referring to Fig. 3, the folders III are open throughout the major portion of their length, but at their delivery ends, they overlap, in spaced relation, at the top, as shown at I! in Fig. 9, to permit the ready passage of the wrapper 38. As the tamale material ll moves through the discharge ends of the folders I, it

is given a cylindrical section, and the wrapper 36 is engaged about it, transversely.

The means for advancing the wrapper 3i and the tamale material 38 is not broadly new, since major portions of it appear in our former Patent No. 1,654,871, granted on the 3rd day of January, 1928,-

As to the means for advancing the tamale material 3!, enclosed in the wrapper ll, a gear casing 44 is disposed alongside the lower frame I. A lower transverse shaft 48 (Figs. 2, 10 and 11) is journaled in the gear casing 44. An idle shaft 46 (Fig. 2) is supp rted for rotation on the lower frame I. The shafts 48 and I carry sprocket wheels 41, about which is engaged a lower slat conveyer 48. disposed inline with the folders Ill. An upper shaft 48 is disposed parallel to the shaft 45 and is journaled in the gear casing 44. The shafts 45 and 49 are operatively connected by intermeshing gears 50, shown in Figs. 10 and 11. Forwardly extended radius arms II are mounted to swing vertically on the shaft 4!. A shaft 52 is journaled in the rear ends of the radius arms II. The shafts 82 and 4! carry sprocket wheels 83. The sprocket wheels 53 are engaged by sprocket chains I, connected by outwardly extended transverse ribs II. A pinion i3 is secured to the shaft 4'. 1

When the shaft 45 is rotated, rotation is imparted to the shaft 48 by way of the gears ll. The wrapped tamale material is engaged between the lower conveyer 48 and the ribs II on the sprocket chains 54, and the wrapped tamale material is advanced, the radius arms Ii and associated parts having up and down swing- .ing movement on the shaft 40, Especial attention is directed to the fact that the-mechanism under consideration does more than advance the wrapped tamale material, in that, as shown in Fig. 2, the ribs II on the lower rims of the chains '4 put transverse creases It into the tamale material.

The next job that the machine does is to sever the wrapped tamale material at spaced creases 58, leaving two tamales joined together at an intervening crease, it being possible to fold the two tamales together, at an intervening crease, and put them in a can or other container.

The severing of the tamale material is done by a radial knife 51, best shown in Fig. 11, and mounted on a roller It, the knife I! cooperating with a lower roller 60. The roller 59 is carried by a shaft 6|, journaled in the gear casing ll.

Figures 10 and 11 disclose that a pinion I2 is secured to the shaft 6 I, and meshes with a pinion 83 mounted to turn on a stub shaft 64 carried by the gear casing 44. The pinion ll meshes with a gear wheel 85, Journaled on a stub shaft 00 carried by the casing N. The gear wheel ll meshes with a pinion 61 on a'transverse shaft 0., constituting part of a gearing mechanism 1. of standa d construction, supported below the frame I. The construction of the gearing mechanism II is such that the shaft ll of the gearing mechanism is operatively connected to a shaft 'Il (Fig. l) disposed at right angles to the shaft 88 and forming,' part of a motor I2, supported below the frame The lower roller 00 of Fig. 11, which cooper- 4 gear wheel 18 on the shaft II, the pinion ll the gear wheel ll being external to the casing 8 4, as Fig. ll willshowl The construction is such that the rollers 88 and 80 rotate in opposite direc- Figure 2 shows that two connected tamales ll, which have been severed from the string of tamales at their left hand end, pass .under a feed roller ll, before the said connected tamales are cut free at their right hand ends, from the string of tamales, by the action of the knife ll of Fig. 11. The roller II is spool-shaped, to keep the tamales in line. A guide plate 11' supports the tamales in their passage from the knife II to a conveyer 18 to be alluded to hereinafter. Due to the operation of the roller 10, the left hand end of the two connected tamales has been delivered on the conveyer 18. The feed roller 18 is supported for rotation in the gear casing 44 and receives motion from the gear wheel 85, by way of an intermeshing pinion I8 on the shaft I8.

It appears from Fig. 2 that the, two severed tamales, marked by the numeral 88 inthat figure, have passed onto the belt conveyer l8, hereinbefore mentioned. The forward portion of the belt conveyer 18 is carried (Fig. l) on a roller ll, supported for rotation on the frame I. The rear portion of the belt conveyer I8 is passed around a drive roller 82 (Fig. 2). The drive roller 82 for the conveyer I8 is attached to a horizontal transverse shaft 88 supported for rotation on the casing ll, externally thereof (Fig. 10) It appears in Fig. 12 that the shaft 88 gets rotation from the shaft 18 by a chain and sprocket connection ll.

By means of beveled pinions 85, the shaft v88 transmits rotation to a vertical shaft 88, supported at 81 on thecasing 44 for rotation.

In Fig. 3, the numeral 88 marks a can conveyer disposed longitudinally of the tamale conveyer 19. at one side thereof. The'can conveyer 88 need not be described in detail, because it is of the sort shown in Patent No. 2,181,659, issued on November 28, 1939, to Ben Harve Johnson, one ,of the inventors in the present application. Let it sumce to state that the can conveyer 88 includes a vertical shaft 88, connected to the shaft 88 by a chain and sprocket drive 88.

Referring to Fig. 2, the gearing mechanism shown at 18 comprises a horizontal shaft 8|, connected to the shaft It by a speed change mechanism 82, of standard construction, and under the control of an operator, it being possible, thus. to

regulate the operation of the feed worms l8 of Figs. 4 and 2, considered relatively to the remaining portions of the machine.

The driving train for the worms ll of Figs. 4 and 2 comprises the shafts it, the chain and sprocket drives it, the shaft i I, the gearing in the casing i2 (Fig. 2), the shaft M, the speed changemechanism 82, the shaft 8!. the gearing indicated at it, the shaft H, and the motor 12.

The lower conveyer 48 of Fig. 2 receives motion from a train of parts comprising one of the sprocket wheels 41, the shaft 45, the pinion 83 of Fig. 10, the gear wheel 85, the pinion 81, the shaft 68, the gearing 10, the shaft H (Fig.1), and the motor 12. 1

The sprocket chains 54 and the ribs 85 (Fig. 2), which cooperate with the lower conveyer 48, receive motion from one of the sprocket wheels 88, the shaft 48, the intermeshinggear wheels 80 of Fig. ll, the shaft 45, and the hereinbefore mentioned driving means for the shaft 48.

The upper roller 58 of Fig. 11, which carries the knife 81, receives rotation by a train of parts including the shaft ll of Fig. 10. the pinion 82', the pinion 88, the'gear wheel 88, the gear (wheel 81, theshaft "and the intervening parts hereinbefore described and capable of being traced-back tothe motor l2.

. The roller 88 which cooperates with the knife ii on the roller 88 receives motion from the shaft II, by way of the gear wheel ll-(Fig.ll) on the shaft 8|,and the pinion It on the. shaft 18, the drive for the shaft 8| having been traced out hereinbefore. i

. The feed roller 18 of Fig. 2 receives" rotation (Fig; 10) by way of the pinion 18, the gear wheel 85, the pinion 81, the shaft 88, the gearing I8, th shaft ll of Fig. l, and the motor 12. a The tamale conveyer 18 of Fig. 2 receives rotation by way of the roller or pulley 82 the shaft 88 (Fig. 12), the chain and sprocket drive 84, the shaft I8, and parts hereinbefore described. whereby rotation is imparted to the shaft 13.

The can conveyer 88 of Fig. 3 is driven by a train of parts comprising the shaft 88, the chain and sprocket drive 80, the shaft 88, the beveled gears 88, the shaft 88, the chain and sprocket mechanism 84 of Fig. 12, the shaft 18, and parts hereinbefore described, and shown in Figs. 11 and 10,- whereby rotation is imparted to the shaft 18.

The gross operation of the machine is as follows: I

The mixing and cooking mechanisms 2 and 8 of Figs. 1 and 4, discharge their contents into' the hoppers 8. By means of the feed worms l8, the ingredients are forced downwardly through the hoppers 8 and their necks 8, into the re-' ceivers [8 of Fig. 5 and "of Fig. l.

Under the governance of the gate valves 21. controlled by the mechanism shown in Figs. 5 and .6, including the handles of Fig. 6 and the handles ll of Fig. 3,. the material traverses the respective spouts 28 and 84 of Fig. 5, and is discharged as indicated at 88 in Fig. 2, on the strips 88 of wrapper, moving lengthwise of the folders 48, the wrapper 88 being engaged about the tamale material, after the manner of Fig. 9.

The lower conveyer 48 of Fig. 2, together with the sprocket chains 84 and their ribs 55, advance the wrapped tamale material, the ribs 65 forming the transverse creases as shown at 58 in Fig. 2.

The knife 51 on the roller 58 (Figs. 11 and 2), cooperating with the roller 60, severs the wrapped tamale material at spaced creases 88 to form the pair of connected tamales shown at 88 in Fig. 2.

Before the pair of tamales shown at ll in Fig. 2 have been out free from the string of tamales, by the knife 51, the tamales shown at 11 are delivered on the conveyer 18 by the operation of the feed roller 18.

The conveyer 18 advances the pair of tam-ales shown at 80 in Fig. 2. The tamales 88 of the severed pair are folded together and are placed by an operator in cans carried by the can conveyer 88 of Fig. 3.

The machine functions to consummate the ob- .iects outlined in the opening portion of this specification and alluded to thereinafter.

Owing to the provision of the substantially vertical worm conveyers l8 of Figs. 4 and 2, a continuous and uniform pressure on the tamale material is obtained, as it is advanced, and caking and hardening in the chutes 5 and the necks 8 is avoided The worm conveyers l8 also enable the tamale material to be ejected from the spouts 84 at high speed, the output of the machine being increased accordingly. The spout arrangement shown at 18-44 in Fig. 5 brings aboutan adequate miixing of the tamale ingredients, before they are discharged on the wrappers 36.

Having thus described the invention, what is claimed is:

1. In a tamale .machine, a material handling mechanism comprising upright hoppers having reduced depending necks, a frame disposed above the hoppers and forming a connection between the upper parts of the hoppers, feed shafts mounted to rotate in the frame and suspended therefrom, the shafts being extended through the hoppers andthe necks, the lower ends of the feed shafts being free, feed worms carried by the feed shafts and located in the hoppers and the necks, the portions of the worms which are in the hoppers being of appreciably less diameter than the hoppers and being spaced therefrom, the portions of the worms which are in the necks engaging the necks to form the sole bearings for the free lower ends of the feed shafts, a substantially vertical driven shaft supported for rotation between the hoppers. and driving connections between the driven shaft and each feed shaft, the driving connections being located within the frame.

2. In a tamale machine, a material handling mechanism comprising upright hoppers having downwardly converging longitudinal axes and provided at their lower ends with parallel, reduced depending necks, feed shafts each extended through the hoppers and the necks, the upper portions of the feed shafts being located in the axes of the hoppers, universal joints interposed in the feed shafts and located at the places of juncture between the hoppers and the necks, feed worms carried by the feed shafts, the upper portions of the worm being located in the hoppers. in spaced relation thereto, the lower portions of the worms being free, and being received closely, but for rotation, in the necks, to maintain the upper portions of the feed shafts in the stated relation with respect to the hoppers, a substantially vertical driven shaft supported between the hoppers for rotation, means for connecting the upper portion of the driven shaft operatively with each feed shaft, and means for suspending the a feed shafts from their upper portions. 

